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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
The characters are ones you grow to love. The story has substance with light heartedness to make it very entertaining and enjoyable. Really loved it.
How Freaking Romantic by Emily Harding kicks off with pure chaos in the best way: Bea, hot-headed and fiercely loyal, storms into a divorce lawyer’s office to yell at him for representing her best friend’s (awful) ex. That lawyer, of course, is Nathan—and what starts as a full-blown confrontation slowly simmers into an unexpected (and totally unprofessional) connection. They keep running into each other—at school, at networking events—and sparks fly, even when they’re mid-argument.
I get the criticism of Bea—she’s not exactly built to be liked. But I saw so much of myself in her. She’s impulsive, intense, a little much... and I kind of adored that about her. Not every heroine has to be sweet and soft—sometimes you want someone who storms into a divorce lawyer’s office and screams at him. (Yes, that happens. Page one.)
I’ve seen people pick apart the law school stuff, and listen... I am a complete legal lemming. If Law & Order didn’t teach me, I don’t know it. So none of that threw me off. The vibe between Bea and Nathan is the real draw here—it’s enemies-ish to lovers, it’s chaotic, it’s hot, and sometimes they’re both being absolutely ridiculous, but it works.
Like BOTM editor Eve Leupold said, it’s less about the happy ending and more about the type of woman Bea is: loud, messy, and not afraid to take up space. That won’t be for everyone, but it really hit for me.
It’s not a flawless read, but it’s fun, fiery, and a little cathartic. Would I scream at a divorce lawyer IRL? No. Did I love watching Bea do it? Absolutely.
I get the criticism of Bea—she’s not exactly built to be liked. But I saw so much of myself in her. She’s impulsive, intense, a little much... and I kind of adored that about her. Not every heroine has to be sweet and soft—sometimes you want someone who storms into a divorce lawyer’s office and screams at him. (Yes, that happens. Page one.)
I’ve seen people pick apart the law school stuff, and listen... I am a complete legal lemming. If Law & Order didn’t teach me, I don’t know it. So none of that threw me off. The vibe between Bea and Nathan is the real draw here—it’s enemies-ish to lovers, it’s chaotic, it’s hot, and sometimes they’re both being absolutely ridiculous, but it works.
Like BOTM editor Eve Leupold said, it’s less about the happy ending and more about the type of woman Bea is: loud, messy, and not afraid to take up space. That won’t be for everyone, but it really hit for me.
It’s not a flawless read, but it’s fun, fiery, and a little cathartic. Would I scream at a divorce lawyer IRL? No. Did I love watching Bea do it? Absolutely.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
How Freaking Romantic follows Bea, a law student , as she tries to find her footing in her life as her friends have all seemed to settle into a different adulthood and her feelings catch for the one person she feels she shouldn’t like - her friend’s ex’s divorce lawyer.
I say this with the highest compliments, this book read like Ali Hazlewood took a break from STEM books to write a law based romance instead. It was cute and reminiscent of a rom-com. I do think Bea will be a little annoying for some people, and while there were times I wanted her to just say what she felt, she was really relatable too, which is why I never actually got angry with her. The third act break up that is a staple of the romance genre also was pretty well done. I understood why it happened and how, which I appreciated. It didn’t feel forced or out of place.
Harding also did a good job at laying the ground work for some topics to come back up later, while also making it seem like she might be doing that with other things only to not have them be a conflict or a piece of the ending (IYKYK).
I didn’t have many issues with the book, but it wasn’t perfect. I didn’t love that side characters were easily forgotten and were really only devices to move the relationship between Bea and Nate forward. I also get why Nate reacted the way he did during the third act break up, but I’m still a little annoyed with him. The ending was also a little cringy, but I will concede that I though the epilogue was one of the better ones I have read (and I usually do not like epilogues). I also said this in a prior review (and this was not at all taken into account for my rating), but I feel like the publisher picked a weird title. It’s not like Bea or Nate don’t curse or anything. It felt very disjointed from the story. So much so that I almost didn’t read this book BECAUSE of the title. I only read it because I wanted to use my BOTM credit last month. Im glad I did.
All in all, this was a solid book for Harding’s solo debut and I’ll definitely pick up whatever she writes next.